Spezza, Anderson lead Senators past Leafs

If Saturday night’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs turns out to be his last on home ice as an Ottawa Senator, at least Jason Spezza will have gone out on a high.

Of course, rumours of the centre’s impending departure seem to crop up every single season that the Senators fail to meet expectations, so who really knows what the future holds for Spezza entering the final year of his contract with the team?

Either way, the captain showed what the Senators will be giving up if they do finally decide to part ways with him via trade this summer: an elite scorer who can make magic with players of equal skill level.

His goal to open the scoring in Ottawa’s 1-0 win at Canadian Tire Centre Saturday night was case in point, as Ales Hemsky sent the puck to the top of the power play 1-3-1 to Erik Karlsson, who immediately dealt left to Spezza.

The captain went down to one knee and one-timed a shot low past Toronto goalie James Reimer for his 23rd goal of the season.

It was the only one the Senators would need.

The win secured Ottawa’s place ahead of Toronto in the Eastern Conference standings – an almost unfathomable outcome given the point spreads earlier in the season — as the Leafs closed out their schedule with their fourth consecutive loss.

It’s unlikely anyone was shouting “we’re No. 11!” afterwards, but the victory was a nice feather in the cap of the Senators fans among 20,500 at the rink Saturday night.

Craig Anderson stopped 28 shots in Ottawa’s first win over the Leafs this season (in four tries).

Meanwhile, the Senators will be more than happy to say farewell to Leafs goalie James Reimer if Toronto acquiesces to his trade request this summer.

He almost managed to stay undefeated in eight games in Ottawa, stopping all but one of 37 shots fired at him (including two breakaways in the third period). He fell to 9-2-1 against the Senators for his career. The further away he moves from the division and conference, the better for Ottawa.

The first period featured plenty of chances with no results. Both teams came painfully close to opening the scoring, however, as each had a goal waved off in a 27-second span.

First up was the Leafs’ Tyler Bozak, who used every inch of his reach to bat a puck out of the air and into the Ottawa net. No go — it was way above the crossbar, and the officials quashed the goal immediately.

They did the same as Senators defenceman Marc Methot got tangled up with a Leafs defenceman and bumped Reimer as a rebound bounced off the Toronto player and in. The call: incidental contact with the goalie.

The Senators could probably argue they were robbed of a goal about four minutes before all that, when a quick whistle prevented Erik Karlsson from depositing a rebound behind Reimer on Ottawa’s first power play of the night.

All told, the Leafs and Senators combined to fire 27 shots in the first, with Anderson and Reimer shutting the door.

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GAME FILE

WHY THEY WON

They out-skated, out-chanced and just plain out-tried the Toronto Maple Leafs, who look like a truly deflated bunch. Big changes are on the way in the Big Smoke.

CHEERS

Craig Anderson, Senators

A game after Robin Lehner stoned the New Jersey Devils to the tune of 38 saves, Anderson shut out the team’s biggest rival.

JEERS

The Battle of Ontario

…which came to a fairly meaningless conclusion after showing so much promise earlier this season.

GRAND FINALE

The Senators close out their schedule Sunday night in Pittsburgh against the Penguins.